


A New Friend

by bethonthemoon



Category: Supernatural
Genre: AU, Angst, Fluff, John Winchester - Freeform, Young Anna, Young Dean, Young Gabriel, Young Lucifer, Young Michael, Young Sam, young cas, young hannah
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-04
Updated: 2015-11-04
Packaged: 2018-04-29 21:13:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5142632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bethonthemoon/pseuds/bethonthemoon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dean loses Sam in a grocery store and ends up making a new friend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A New Friend

Dean ran around the Illinois store frantically trying to find his little brother Sammy. He ran up and down aisle after aisle and could not find him. He didn’t want to draw more attention to himself by shouting, but he was getting desperate. That’s when he saw him through the window. He booked it out of there as fast as he could to get to Sam. 

“Dean!” Sam cried. He ran to Dean, his arms outstretched. Dean knelt down to hug him.

“What were you thinking? Where did you go?” Dean demanded. He put Sam at arm’s length so he could look at his face. 

Little Sammy didn’t want to get in trouble though, so he decided now would be a good time to cry. Tears began to pool at the edges of his eyes and he felt his nose begin to fill with snot and he gave a big sniff.

“I just w-wanted some l-lucky charms,” Sam whimpered. He gave his best pouty face and let the tears fall. 

“Well, all you had to do was say something! I would have got you lucky charms, please don’t cry Sam,” Dean begged. He hated seeing Sam cry, and even though he knew he was doing it so he wouldn’t get in trouble, he couldn’t resist those tears. 

“Uhm, should I just go?”

Dean’s eyes shot up, he rocketed to his feet, and pulled Sam behind him all in a matter of a second. He hadn’t even noticed the other boy until that moment. The boy had had black hair that waved slightly in the wind and was unkempt like he hadn’t brushed it that day. He was wearing a plain white shirt and jeans and tennis shoes. Around his neck was a chain but whatever was on it, if anything, was tucked under his shirt. It took Dean only a second to assess he wasn’t a danger before he looked back at the boy’s face. He had blue eyes, reflective eyes. He was also covered in glitter. 

“Who are you?” Dean asked. Sam used this moment to run out from behind Dean to the stranger. “Hey, Sam!”

“Dean, he was the one who found me!” Sam cried, giving the boy a hug around the waist. The boy looked down at Sam and smiled. He patted his head before removing Sam from his waist. He knelt down in front of Sam to get at his eye level.

“Hey, I think you’re making your brother nervous. Why don’t you go back over to him?” The boy gave a huge smile and Sam woefully went back to Dean.

“I’m Castiel,” Castiel smiled and stood back up and offered his hand to Dean. Dean took his hand and gave one firm shake before letting go.

“C’mon Sam, let’s go back. Thanks for finding Sam,” Dean said and tried to turn around.

“Nooo! Dean, no! I want to stay with Castiel longer!” Sam cried and pulled on Dean’s arm.

“Sam, we need to go,”

“No!” 

“C’mon, I’ll make y-“

“NO!” and Sam sat his little butt on the ground. Dean looked reluctantly at Castiel. It was past lunch time, and they hadn’t eaten yet. Maybe if this Castiel could pay for himself, they could get something to eat quickly. 

“Uhm, maybe we could get some lunch or something,” Dean mumbled. No way did he want to do this. 

“Yay! Castiel Castiel!” Sam jumped back up and ran over to Castiel and began to berate him with questions. He smiled and looked at Dean again.

“Any idea where you want to eat? I can pay for myself by the way,” Castiel said. 

“We can just go to the McDonald’s. It’s closest.” Dean said, and they began to walk. The whole way, Sam talked to Castiel. He never shut up. Dean would have felt bad but Castiel  
seemed to be enjoying the attention so he let Sam keep talking. Sam never shut his mouth once until he managed to shove half his burger into it. Dean took this moment to find out more about him.

“So, how old are you, Cas? You don’t mind if I call you that, right?” Dean asked, trying to be nonchalant and failing. 

“I’m six!” Sam piped in before taking another bite of his burger. Sam had insisted on sitting next to Castiel. 

“I’m eleven. And yes, you can call me Cas,” Cas smiled at Dean, and Dean felt a little chip come off his heart. 

“Dean is ten, did you know that Cas?” Sam asked?

“No I did not, thank you for telling me,” Cas smiled at Sam, then looked back to Dean. “Are you guys new in town?”

“Yeah, not sure how long we’re going to be here though. Our dad works odd jobs and moves a lot,” Dean said, looking away. He was beginning to like this boy, but only because he was being so nice to Sam. 

“Cas, how come you’re covered in glitter?” Sam asked, choosing now to talk with his mouth full rather than wait until he had swallowed. Cas laughed out loud at this.

“I was playing arts and crafts with my little sister Anna. Michael is going to be so mad when he realized I left the house looking like this.”

“Who are they?” Dean asked a little too quickly. “Sorry, that was rude,”

“No, it’s okay,” Cas smiled again. “Anna is my little sister, she’s seven, and Michael is my older brother, he’s twenty, but he takes care of us. He and Luci, Lucifer, who’s nineteen, are kind of like our parents. I also have an older brother, Gabriel, he’s only twelve though, and a twin sister, Hannah.” Cas paused here, taking a moment to himself. “We never got to meet out parents. I mean, Luci, Michael, and Gabriel knew our dad, but Hannah, Anna and I never did.”

Dean took a moment to process this. Is his family just a bunch of religious freaks? Do they just let a twelve year old run around town all by himself? Then again, Dean was only ten and unfamiliar with the area. It was okay though, because Sam took care of Dean’s silence.

“WOW! You have such a big family! Dean, can we meet them! I wanna meet the!” Sam started to bounce in his seat he was so excited, but Cas looked a little more than displeased. 

“I’m not sure that would be such a good idea.” Cas said. He looked really uncomfortable about the whole situation.

“Aw, why not?” Sam asked, putting on his best pouting face.

Cas sighed before talking, “Michael and Lucifer don’t always get along, so they’re usually fighting. Hannah hates it, so she’s always trying to please them, but she just ends up crying because it doesn’t work. Gabriel isn’t much help either, egging them on, or doing things to purposefully make them fight, and Anna cries a lot because she doesn’t like how loud it gets. So I just wander around town a lot. They were fighting today so I was playing with Anna to calm her down. After Lucifer left, I left.” 

Sam or Dean didn’t say anything. Sam knew what yelling sounded like. His dad and Dean did it a lot. He remembers curling underneath smelly motel blankets crying and covering his ears. He also remembers how it would be quite for a few minutes after the door slammed and Dean would come over and get under the covers with Sam, and he would pull Sam close and let Sam cry. Then afterword, Dean would make Sam some food, or they would play a game.

Dean was thinking of every fight he’s ever had with his dad. Never having enough money, there being no food, Sam needing to enroll in school soon. John Winchester never did anything for his kids other than teach them how to grow up without a father or mother. Dean was thinking of all the times his dad raised his hand and him, and then just left, slamming the door on his way out. The soft sobs coming from under the blanket, and thinking of how to make Sammy feel better.

The three of them didn’t say anything for almost a minute before Cas broke the silence. 

“It’s getting a little late. Maybe I should head home,”

“Yeah. Sam and I should be getting back too. Dad could be home soon.” Dean said. He didn’t really want to stop talking to Cas though. He had enjoyed his lunch, and Cas seemed like a really good friend.

“I wanna see Cas tomorrow!” Sam piped in. “Can we meet for lunch again pleeeeeeease!”

“I don’t see why not,” Cas smiled, and Dean felt his stomach flop. “Why don’t we meet here again?” 

“Sure, that sounds good to me.” Dean said, clearing his throat at the same time.

“Yay! We’ll see you tomorrow then Cas!” and Sam bounced out of his seat. Dean stood up and so did Cas. They walked out the same door and dean waved.

“See you tomorrow then,”

“Yeah, tomorrow.”

And they went their separate ways.  
~

Castiel walked home with a new skip in his step. Perhaps he had made some new friends today, albite one very young friend, and one very quiet friend. Either way, he had enjoyed today’s de-stress walk. Cas didn’t realize how far he had walked that day, going almost three miles. By the time he got home, the sun was almost setting. 

He could hear Michael and Lucifer shouting before he even walked up his driveway. He debated continuing walking, but he knew that Hannah and Anna probably wanted some company. So he continued his way to the door, took a deep breath, and entered into the muffled yells.

“I don’t understand why you feel the need to be gone so often! You leave me here all by myself to take care of them with no help!” Michael shouted. So that’s what they were fighting about today. 

“Well, I don’t see why you need to be so controlling about how I spend my time! I always come home with cash and groceries so what’s the problem?!” Lucifer brought up a really good point actually.

“The problem is you leave me here to do all the chores! I have to clean up after you when you tornado through the house, I have to clean up after Anna, thankfully Hannah, Castiel and Gabriel can walk themselves to school,”

“Oh! Don’t forget how Luci keeps inviting his friends over to party!” Castiel wiped his hand down his face. Why did Gabriel feel the need to add to the fight? 

Cas left them to their arguing, and quietly climbed up the stairs to his and Hannah’s bedroom. He found Hannah curled under the covers, quietly crying, and he could hear Anna in the room over. Castiel lightly tapped Anna on the shoulder. 

“Did you want to go out and get some ice cream?” Cas asked quietly. He felt Anna nod from under the covers. 

“I’ll go get Anna then.”

Castiel walked over to Anna’s room and gently knocked on her door.

“C-come in.” Anna hiccupped. Castiel entered and sat next to Anna on the floor and she crawled into his lap. 

“Hey, did you maybe want to go get some ice cream?” Castiel cooed, trying to speak in soothing tones.

“Ok-kay.”

“Okay. Get cleaned up and I’ll go see if Gabriel wants to come too, okay?”

Anna nodded her head and climbed out of Castiel’s lap. 

Despite how much Castiel didn’t want to go downstairs to get Gabriel, he knew if he removed him from the fight, things would actually be quiet when they got home.  
Cas hurried past his room and down the stairs as the yelling got louder. Just before he entered the living room he heard a loud crash. 

“Oops,” Cas heard Gabriel say.

Cas walked in on Michael and Lucifer looking at Gabriel and Gabriel looking at a broken vase that had fallen to the hardwood floor. When Cas walked in they all looked up at him  
in silence.

“Uhm, I was going to take Hannah and Anna to get some ice cream,” Cas said hesitantly. “I was going to ask Gabriel if he wanted to come too.” Just as Castiel finished, Hannah walked in holding Anna’s hand while Anna sucked her thumb in the other.

“That sounds like a great idea Cassie! Let’s go now!” Gabriel vaulted the couch as he talked, grabbing Castiel’s hand and pulling him towards the door at the same time, Hannah and Anna following close behind. Just as they reached the door, Michael seemed to realize what had happened, but it was too late. They were already racing down the driveway and away from the house. 

As they raced down the street, Gabriel scooped up Anna and put her on his shoulders, pretending to be an airplane. Anna screamed with delight. Castiel smiled as well. It had been a while since the four of them had gone out together. 

As Gabriel ran ahead with Anna, Hannah stopped and grabbed Castiel’s sleeve.

“We probably should not have left like that. Michael will be mad when we get home.” Hannah always spoke frankly, choosing to be honest no matter what the truth. 

“It’ll be okay. Michael will probably make Luci clean up the mess and they’ll both be in their respective rooms by the time with get home.” Maybe it was wishful thinking, but Castiel hoped it would be that way.

Up ahead, Gabriel had stopped and taken Anna off his shoulders and was holding her hand.

“What’s taking you slow-pokes so long? Anna and I want ice cream!”

“Yeah! Ice cream!” Anna cried joyfully and she began to skip around Gabriel, never letting go of his hand and forcing him to spin with her. Castiel couldn’t help but laugh, and Hannah even smiled.

As Hannah and Castiel caught up, Gabriel started to talk again.

“I didn’t do it on purpose, ya know? I was just laughing and I was sitting on the arm of the couch and I leaned back to much.” Gabriel was looking at the ground as he explained.  
Despite the fact that Hannah was younger than him, he didn’t like making her upset with him.

“It’s okay Gabriel, I’m sure it was an accident,” Hannah reassured him, putting Gabriel back into high spirits.

“Then let’s go get some freaking ice cream!” Gabriel cheered, and off they went. 

~

As Sam and Dean left McDonald’s, they stopped at the grocery store again. Dean had been so frantic looking for Sam that they never picked up any food. Dean was sure to keep Sam by his side the whole time, and to get him his Lucky Charms. At the check-out, Sam was quiet, and was staring intently at a key chain.

“Sam, I don’t think we have the money for it,” Dean said. At this, Sam put on his best sad face.

“I don’t want it for me Dean! I want it for Cas!” Sam made his eyes well up, looking at Dean attentively. 

Dean felt torn. His dad had barely left them enough money to get the regular groceries. It seemed the cashier took pity on them though.

“Ya know what dolls? Why don’tcha each pick out one, and the little man can get one for his friend too,” The elderly cashier, whose name was Hillary, said. She looked like she was in her early fifties, with make-up caked on her face, making it seem like she had an extra layer of skin. Her voice was dry and rough, like she had smoked one too many cigarettes. Dean wasn’t complaining though, and neither was Sam.

“Thank you thank you thank you!” Sam said over and over.

“No problem doll. Just try not to lose it, alright?,” Hillary smiled, giving Sam a wink. 

Dean picked out his key chain, a plain Illinois shape, and watched Sam pick out his and Cas’s. Sam picked one in the shape of an angel and another shaped like a dog, and he hopped over and gave them to Hillary. 

“Thanks…” Dean mumbled and finished paying.

“Sure thing doll,” Hillary said, giving them one last big smile before they left the store. 

As soon as they left the store, Sam rummaged through his bag and pulled out his key chain. He stared at it for a bit before saying something.

“I can’t wait to get a dog.”

“That’s nice,” Dean said absent mindedly. He was thinking about lunch today. Dean was only half paying attention to what Sam said next.

“Dean, did you hear me?” Sam asked, pulling on Dean’s arm.

“I’m sorry, what was that Sammy?”

“I said: Do you think Cas will show up tomorrow?” Sam had a worried look on his face. “I really want to give him his angel.” 

“I’m sure he’ll be there. It is a Sunday after all, so there’s no school, and it doesn’t seem like he wants to spend much time with his family.” Dean responded.

“I want to spend every day with you Dean!” Sam cried and he wrapped his arms around Dean’s waist, stopping their progression for the moment. 

“Me too Sammy.” Dean pat Sam on the head, and then lightly pushed him away. He grabbed Sam’s hand though and held it all the way back to the closest thing they had to a home, a grungy motel. 

As they rounded the corner and the motel came into sight, Dean saw something familiar. 

“Dad’s back!” He shouted, and he took off towards the old, Chevy impala, Sam following close behind. As they approached, they could see their father John Winchester, loading things into the trunk of the impala. When Sam saw this, he started to slow down.

“Dean wait! Does this mean we won’t get to see Cas tomorrow?” Sam looked frantic. As he talked, he reached into the bag to pull out the keychain, but because they weren’t that far away from John, he could see them in the parking lot after he turned around. 

“There you are. Load it up boys, we’re heading out tonight,” John called to them. Sam’s eyes began to tear up for real this time, terrified he might not get to give Cas his gift.

“Wait, dad, are we really leaving tonight? I mean, it’s already kind of late and getting dark. Why don’t we just stay until tomorrow afternoon or something?” Dean pleaded, hoping John could hear the want in his voice.

“Can’t do that. I’ve got another case lined up in Ohio, and you know it’s going to take all night to get there. You guys can just sleep in the car.” John continued to put their only possessions in the trunk of the car. John turned around to go back inside the motel and grab the rest of their things, as Dean turned around to see Sam crying. 

“Please don’t cry Sam?” Dean begged. “I’ll think of something, I promise.” Sam didn’t say anything though, and he dropped the bag on the ground and cried silently. 

“Aw, c’mon Sammy. It’ll be okay.” Dean said as he knelt down to pick up the bag. He grabbed it and placed it back into Sam’s hands and wrapped his fingers around it. “I promise you, we’ll get Cas his gift, okay?”

“You r-really p-romise?”

“Yeah, I really do.” 

“Okay then,” Sam said. He didn’t look much better, but he held onto the bag and crawled into the back seat of the impala. As Dean was standing up, John came out of the motel. 

“We’re all packed up and ready to go. We’ll have to stop and get gas before we head out of town, so you and Sam can grab some snacks at the gas station. Hop in,” and with that, John climbed behind the driver’s seat. All Dean could do was sigh and get in next to Sam.

~

Castiel was outside the gas station, finishing up the last of his ice cream. He had decided to get just a plain drumstick with nuts on the outside. Next to him, Hannah was cleaning up Anna’s face after the mess that was Anna’s fudge sickle, and Gabriel was inside stealing more ice cream for the walk home. Castiel couldn’t help but smile to himself. He had really enjoyed his day so far.

“I’m going to take her inside to the bathroom to wash her face some more,” Hannah said to Castiel. Castiel nodded and Hannah to Anna inside. It was then that Castiel heard the loud engine of the car pulling into the gas station. Cas decided not to pay to much attention to it until it got quiet and he heard some familiar voices.

“So Sammy, do you know what kind of snack you want?”

“I don’t know. Maybe just some chips.”

At this, Cas turned to face the voices directly and saw the two boys from earlier, Dean and Sam. It was almost in that exact moment that Sam looked up and saw Castiel.

“AHHH! CAS!” Sam screamed and pulled away from Dean and ran to Cas. Dean turned around to make sure that John hadn’t noticed, but he wasn’t even out of the car yet. He was still looking through his fake credit cards. Dean hurried over to Sam and Cas, carrying the bag with Cas’s present.

“Cas, we were so worried! We thought we wouldn’t-, and Dean said-, this is so good!” Sam shouted as Dean approached.

“Hey Sam, let’s take this inside okay? And maybe lower your voice?” Dean only halfway scolded Sam. He just didn’t want their dad to see them talking to a stranger.

“Oh, okay,” Sam said, much softer than before.

“Hello Dean, hello Sam. What a surprise to see you here,” Cas said as they walked inside the store. 

“We almost had to leave without saying goodbye!” Sam said, raising his voice again.

“Sam,” Dean warned. At this, Sam covered his mouth, but he was still bouncing with excitement. 

“What do you mean leave? We we’re supposed to meet tomorrow,” Cas said. He could feel his spirits falling. They we’re going to leave him too.

“Our dad came back. To be fair, we didn’t know on what day he would be back. We thought he’d still be gone for a week or so.” Dean explained, trying to make sure Cas understood that they were not leaving because of him. They entered the gas station and walked over to the chip isle. Cas glanced over at Gabriel, who was giving a curious look.

“But we got you a present!” Sam interjected. He ran up to Dean and Dean handed the bag to him. Sam pulled out the keychain and handed it to Cas.

“I-, I don’t know what to say,” was all Cas could say. No one he’d ever met the same day had bought him a gift before. 

“It’s an angel! It reminded me of you,” Sam said, smiling profusely. 

“Well thank you so much Sam and Dean. I’ll keep it forever,” Cas looked straight at Dean when he said this, and Dean could feel himself blushing.

“You don’t have too,” Dean mumbled, but secretly, he was touched that Cas loved the gift so much, and Sam sure had done a good job picking it out. An angel was the perfect fit for Castiel.

“Hey Cassie, who are you’re friends?” Gabriel had come over and thrown his arm around Castiel’s shoulders. “Anybody I’d be interested in?” 

“Dean, Sam, this is my brother Gabriel,” Castiel said a little uncomfortable. It was at that moment that Hannah came back with Anna from the bathroom.

“Oh there you are. You weren’t outside. Who are they?” Hannah asked, wasting no time in getting to the point. 

“Dean, Sam, it’s time to go,” John had walked into the station. 

“Oh crap, quick, just grab a snack and a drink Sam,” Dean started to usher Sam to the drinks at the back. Sam grabbing a chocolate milk, Dean grabbing a Pepsi. They both grabbed a bag of Cheetos and Dean tried to rush Sam to the front.

“Wait!” Sam ran over and hugged Cas one more time before following Dean. Dean waved as Cas gave a small wave back, surrounded by his brother and sisters. As Sam and Dean rushed to the counter that John was at, Dean knew that they were probably never going to see Castiel again. 

As soon as John finished paying for the gas and snacks, he rushed them back out to the impala. As they were pulling out, Dean and Sam turned around and waved one last time at Cas as he exited the building with his family. All Cas could do was wave back, and stare fondly at his new keychain.

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know if you like it and if I should post a second chapter. IT seems a little sad to end it here


End file.
